S'blood, do you think I am easier to be played upon than a pipe?
Yes, I know, the header should probably be "To be or not to be," as that is the most famous soliloquy in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. That's Shakespeare's Hamlet and a long line of actors from Richard Burbage, to David Garrick to Kenneth Branagh & Ralph Fiennes, my previous favorite Hamlet. But this, this is David Tennant's Hamlet at the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon for the Royal Shakespeare Company. I attended the evening performance on November 11,2008 and this exchange with Guildenstern was perhaps the most important in the play for me. Within it lies the key to this version. It is this dialog and accompanying actions upon the recorders: a slightly off-tune Three Blind Mice from Hamlet, and Guildenstern's (Tom Davey) un played instrument, that makes a man of anger rather than a melancholy Dane. A man of mercurial nature who is truly mad "north by northwest" in that he is the sanest and most cunning character in the play.
I know in the UK, the RSC was questioned for their casting of Doctor Who as Hamlet. To American eyes it seems like stunt casting, due to Tennant's current popularity on UK (& in some circles)US television. Yet, it is undeserved. This is only the third of the RSC's performances I've managed to see, but it's been my experience that they don't cast actors who suck.
During a conversation with the woman sitting next to me during the interval of Love's Labor Lost (seen the prior night and review forthcoming), we were marveling at the full house and she was saying that she thought it was due to Tennant and his television popularity. I said that I was sure it was, in part and was about to add, that since he'd started there, I thought it was okay. She said then, "but it's okay, because he started here." People seem happy to claim him regardless of the fact that he wasn't a member of the company for that long.
And truly, if you're going to stunt cast against Patrick Stewart (another Shakespearian turned sci-fi turned Shakespearian actor - I think the two genres are closer then people are willing to admit) and Oliver Ford Davies, two long time RSC veterans, then you'd better cast someone with the acting chops. Trust me, I've just spent my jet lagged hours from 3 am - 7 am time writing down my notes about a performance that has taken me almost a week to digest, and was only one of five towering productions I saw.
Tennant is not an actor I would have ever cast as Hamlet. Although his Doctor has dark, dark overtones, he has an energetic and cheerful mien. That's not to say that I find him one-dimensional, just that he's not my picture of Hamlet, perhaps because his Dane is not melancholy. His performance as the snarky, mimicking, lewd, mocking, intelligent Hamlet reeks of despair and yet makes you laugh aloud. It may be Tennant's particular talent to turn audiences from laughter to fear or heartbreak within an instant or a speech (and one that is often cut from performances at that). He is a great physical actor, allowing expression and body language to convey much, while not neglecting his dialog. His Hamlet is frightening in a way that's unexpected from someone who is so physically slight. He's tender and then violent in his dealings with Ophelia. He's angry and calculating and is no fool to be played upon. His weakness appears only with the Ghost of his father.
He is by turns capable of great cruelty and insult and great tenderness and passion. He tosses off a quick line about Rosencrantz & Guildensterns's murder, intimating to Horatio that he committed it. His callous dispatch of R&G contrasts with his love and regard for Horatio upon whom he depends. His love is reflected back at him as he dies center stage in Horatio's arms.
He makes visual "country matters" with pelvic thrusts towards Ophelia, his hands behind him bearing his weight, a moment later lying contentedly, almost tenderly, in her lap, before springing manically back to life as the Mousetrap play progresses.
Tennant delivers the soliloquies as musings aloud, sometimes spitting with rage, sometimes curled into fetal position on the stage. Critics argue that he doesn't give them enough weight, but I thought he and director Gregory Doran made the right choice. To regard the famous speeches as just lines, to play up the interactions between the characters, rather than their moments alone. It made them more powerful rather than less.
The worth of Tennant's Hamlet is reflected in the characters who love him:
-Gertrude, who cradles him like a little boy in the "closet scene", Freudian overtones of incest thankfully absent here
-Ophelia, whom he robs of her safety and comfort, driving her to her suicide
-Horatio, his one loyal friend, who tries vainly to keep Hamlet from letting his fate overtake him, restraining from rushing after the Ghost of his father in the early scenes and again from rushing forth during Ophelia's funeral, never succeeding, but always there to try.
-Also in Laertes, who confesses his wrongs against Hamlet at the very last and whose sorrow is genuine.
He may now be a man who has lost his mirth, but obviously he was not always so, for so many characters to think so well of him.
It is Hamlet's play, and yet also that of Polonius and Claudius. Oliver Ford Davies, steals the show during Polonius' scenes. Usually I find this character to be the most annoying, interfering instrument ever wielded by fate. Davies' Polonius can be annoying, a look exchanged between Claudius and Gertrude as he rambles on shows their exasperation with him, and Hamlet's snide mocking and mimicry illustrate his thoughts, but Polonius' children love him despite his foibles.
Ophelia behaves as if truly guided by him rather than as forced by society to do so, and Laertes' desire for revenge illustrates his great love. Polonius was not as self-important as usual here, merely approaching senility. His lines trail off into digressions as he loses and then regains and then loses his thoughts. The overall effect makes one more sorry when Hamlet murders him with a gun from his mother's bedside table. He is comical rather than annoying and is murder is all that more harsh. Rather than eliminating one who is plotting against him, Hamlet has killed a "good old man."
If it is Tennant's play, it is also Patrick Stewart's. No one needs to be told what an incredible actor Stewart is, but it is a rare opportunity to be so forcibly reminded. It is usual, I think, in past productions I've seen, to edit his prayerful speech. He is, after all the villain of the piece. Here they leave it relatively intact. He has shown himself until that moment, a man who has committed a great wrong to obtain what he wanted, only to find it a bitter taste, politics he may have little talent for. He's not even able to master the most basic political skills, remembering names are places like a proper politician. Gertrude always has to prompt him.
He's slimy and Hamlet is a burden that weighs heavily upon him, but usually you never actually believe he's sorry for anything he's done. When Stewart delivered the lines about his stronger guilt defeating his strong intent and his almost plaintive "May I be pardon'd and retain the offense?" is pitiable. He can't bring himself to give up anything he's gained and he will connive and manipulate to keep it, but his guilt is also genuie. He seems almost ready to strangle rather than caress his ill gotten wife. It makes him a more dimensional character.
In his dual role as the Ghost, he hauls Tennant, nearly taller then him when on his knees up by the lapels and earlier over the loudspeakers he yells "swear", any by gods, you're ready to. He and Tennant richly deserved their standing ovations, not given nearly as freely in the UK as in the US.
Touching the theatre itself, production design, lighting and costumes...
I realize that The Courtyard is not as grand as the RSC's normal stages, currently under refurbishment, but I thought the 3/4 thrust stages worked well, allowing entrances and exits from 4 corners rather then two. Hamlet and Horatio watch Ophelia's funeral from the downstage right entrance as part of the audience, making us complicit in their actions. The mirrored upstage flat and floors, contribute to the dramatic lighting and chilling coldness, confirming that something is indeed rotten in the state of Denmark.
Costumes are modern dress, with a touch of the 30's during the wedding celebrations. Hamlet is dressed as the student, Tennant's young appearance only enhancing the impression. His often bare feet in formal and casual wear alike and his slightly short red t-shirt with printed abdomen slightly too short and pulling up when his arms are over his head confirm the rumpled student impression. Simplicity suits the play and this production. The "mousetrap" Players only, have the overwrought, exaggerated Elizabethan costumes, with the biggest wheeled farthingale ever seen on a man.
A few comments on the interpretation...Hamlet exists in a variety of texts and is often rearranged and cut for different productions. One of the best moves this one made was to move the "To Be" soliloquy to the second act, as in the first quarto, rather then after Hamlet's had his suspicions confirmed by the players. Makes the character more action oriented and less the mopey coward. I loved the Alameda's version with Ralph Fiennes and the incestuous nature of the closet scene, but was glad it was absent here. It suited neither the Hamlet Tennant presented nor Penny Downie's Gertrude, so I liked that they behaved solely as mother and son. Besides, having seen Fiennes play another man with Mommy issues the previous week in Oedipus (review forthcoming), I wasn't ready for another following hard upon.
Some favorite visuals...
- Hamlet (Tennant) in a skin tight white fencing jacket, slightly loose light Levi's jeans, tan Chucks (Converse) and fencing foil in hand, awaiting another pass from Laertes from downstage right corner.
- The interval break, Hamlet (Tennant), poised to stab (Stewart) in the back of the neck with a switchblade, the lighting harsh upon them before plunging into blackness. A strange cliffhanger to a play most people would know, but strangely chilling and effective.
Chill level: High
Forgetting to breathe: Common
Overall impression: The Hamlet for 30-somethings. If you're Tennants age (which I am just about), this might be your favorite Hamlet. Fares well with older audience members, but slightly less so. They seem to prefer more mannered performances and less manic energy to their Hamlet.
Very visceral. Funny, frenetic, powerful.
I know in the UK, the RSC was questioned for their casting of Doctor Who as Hamlet. To American eyes it seems like stunt casting, due to Tennant's current popularity on UK (& in some circles)US television. Yet, it is undeserved. This is only the third of the RSC's performances I've managed to see, but it's been my experience that they don't cast actors who suck.
During a conversation with the woman sitting next to me during the interval of Love's Labor Lost (seen the prior night and review forthcoming), we were marveling at the full house and she was saying that she thought it was due to Tennant and his television popularity. I said that I was sure it was, in part and was about to add, that since he'd started there, I thought it was okay. She said then, "but it's okay, because he started here." People seem happy to claim him regardless of the fact that he wasn't a member of the company for that long.
And truly, if you're going to stunt cast against Patrick Stewart (another Shakespearian turned sci-fi turned Shakespearian actor - I think the two genres are closer then people are willing to admit) and Oliver Ford Davies, two long time RSC veterans, then you'd better cast someone with the acting chops. Trust me, I've just spent my jet lagged hours from 3 am - 7 am time writing down my notes about a performance that has taken me almost a week to digest, and was only one of five towering productions I saw.
Tennant is not an actor I would have ever cast as Hamlet. Although his Doctor has dark, dark overtones, he has an energetic and cheerful mien. That's not to say that I find him one-dimensional, just that he's not my picture of Hamlet, perhaps because his Dane is not melancholy. His performance as the snarky, mimicking, lewd, mocking, intelligent Hamlet reeks of despair and yet makes you laugh aloud. It may be Tennant's particular talent to turn audiences from laughter to fear or heartbreak within an instant or a speech (and one that is often cut from performances at that). He is a great physical actor, allowing expression and body language to convey much, while not neglecting his dialog. His Hamlet is frightening in a way that's unexpected from someone who is so physically slight. He's tender and then violent in his dealings with Ophelia. He's angry and calculating and is no fool to be played upon. His weakness appears only with the Ghost of his father.
He is by turns capable of great cruelty and insult and great tenderness and passion. He tosses off a quick line about Rosencrantz & Guildensterns's murder, intimating to Horatio that he committed it. His callous dispatch of R&G contrasts with his love and regard for Horatio upon whom he depends. His love is reflected back at him as he dies center stage in Horatio's arms.
He makes visual "country matters" with pelvic thrusts towards Ophelia, his hands behind him bearing his weight, a moment later lying contentedly, almost tenderly, in her lap, before springing manically back to life as the Mousetrap play progresses.
Tennant delivers the soliloquies as musings aloud, sometimes spitting with rage, sometimes curled into fetal position on the stage. Critics argue that he doesn't give them enough weight, but I thought he and director Gregory Doran made the right choice. To regard the famous speeches as just lines, to play up the interactions between the characters, rather than their moments alone. It made them more powerful rather than less.
The worth of Tennant's Hamlet is reflected in the characters who love him:
-Gertrude, who cradles him like a little boy in the "closet scene", Freudian overtones of incest thankfully absent here
-Ophelia, whom he robs of her safety and comfort, driving her to her suicide
-Horatio, his one loyal friend, who tries vainly to keep Hamlet from letting his fate overtake him, restraining from rushing after the Ghost of his father in the early scenes and again from rushing forth during Ophelia's funeral, never succeeding, but always there to try.
-Also in Laertes, who confesses his wrongs against Hamlet at the very last and whose sorrow is genuine.
He may now be a man who has lost his mirth, but obviously he was not always so, for so many characters to think so well of him.
It is Hamlet's play, and yet also that of Polonius and Claudius. Oliver Ford Davies, steals the show during Polonius' scenes. Usually I find this character to be the most annoying, interfering instrument ever wielded by fate. Davies' Polonius can be annoying, a look exchanged between Claudius and Gertrude as he rambles on shows their exasperation with him, and Hamlet's snide mocking and mimicry illustrate his thoughts, but Polonius' children love him despite his foibles.
Ophelia behaves as if truly guided by him rather than as forced by society to do so, and Laertes' desire for revenge illustrates his great love. Polonius was not as self-important as usual here, merely approaching senility. His lines trail off into digressions as he loses and then regains and then loses his thoughts. The overall effect makes one more sorry when Hamlet murders him with a gun from his mother's bedside table. He is comical rather than annoying and is murder is all that more harsh. Rather than eliminating one who is plotting against him, Hamlet has killed a "good old man."
If it is Tennant's play, it is also Patrick Stewart's. No one needs to be told what an incredible actor Stewart is, but it is a rare opportunity to be so forcibly reminded. It is usual, I think, in past productions I've seen, to edit his prayerful speech. He is, after all the villain of the piece. Here they leave it relatively intact. He has shown himself until that moment, a man who has committed a great wrong to obtain what he wanted, only to find it a bitter taste, politics he may have little talent for. He's not even able to master the most basic political skills, remembering names are places like a proper politician. Gertrude always has to prompt him.
He's slimy and Hamlet is a burden that weighs heavily upon him, but usually you never actually believe he's sorry for anything he's done. When Stewart delivered the lines about his stronger guilt defeating his strong intent and his almost plaintive "May I be pardon'd and retain the offense?" is pitiable. He can't bring himself to give up anything he's gained and he will connive and manipulate to keep it, but his guilt is also genuie. He seems almost ready to strangle rather than caress his ill gotten wife. It makes him a more dimensional character.
In his dual role as the Ghost, he hauls Tennant, nearly taller then him when on his knees up by the lapels and earlier over the loudspeakers he yells "swear", any by gods, you're ready to. He and Tennant richly deserved their standing ovations, not given nearly as freely in the UK as in the US.
Touching the theatre itself, production design, lighting and costumes...
I realize that The Courtyard is not as grand as the RSC's normal stages, currently under refurbishment, but I thought the 3/4 thrust stages worked well, allowing entrances and exits from 4 corners rather then two. Hamlet and Horatio watch Ophelia's funeral from the downstage right entrance as part of the audience, making us complicit in their actions. The mirrored upstage flat and floors, contribute to the dramatic lighting and chilling coldness, confirming that something is indeed rotten in the state of Denmark.
Costumes are modern dress, with a touch of the 30's during the wedding celebrations. Hamlet is dressed as the student, Tennant's young appearance only enhancing the impression. His often bare feet in formal and casual wear alike and his slightly short red t-shirt with printed abdomen slightly too short and pulling up when his arms are over his head confirm the rumpled student impression. Simplicity suits the play and this production. The "mousetrap" Players only, have the overwrought, exaggerated Elizabethan costumes, with the biggest wheeled farthingale ever seen on a man.
A few comments on the interpretation...Hamlet exists in a variety of texts and is often rearranged and cut for different productions. One of the best moves this one made was to move the "To Be" soliloquy to the second act, as in the first quarto, rather then after Hamlet's had his suspicions confirmed by the players. Makes the character more action oriented and less the mopey coward. I loved the Alameda's version with Ralph Fiennes and the incestuous nature of the closet scene, but was glad it was absent here. It suited neither the Hamlet Tennant presented nor Penny Downie's Gertrude, so I liked that they behaved solely as mother and son. Besides, having seen Fiennes play another man with Mommy issues the previous week in Oedipus (review forthcoming), I wasn't ready for another following hard upon.
Some favorite visuals...
- Hamlet (Tennant) in a skin tight white fencing jacket, slightly loose light Levi's jeans, tan Chucks (Converse) and fencing foil in hand, awaiting another pass from Laertes from downstage right corner.
- The interval break, Hamlet (Tennant), poised to stab (Stewart) in the back of the neck with a switchblade, the lighting harsh upon them before plunging into blackness. A strange cliffhanger to a play most people would know, but strangely chilling and effective.
Chill level: High
Forgetting to breathe: Common
Overall impression: The Hamlet for 30-somethings. If you're Tennants age (which I am just about), this might be your favorite Hamlet. Fares well with older audience members, but slightly less so. They seem to prefer more mannered performances and less manic energy to their Hamlet.
Very visceral. Funny, frenetic, powerful.